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This study examined six readings of Job spanning five centuries; they originate in geographical locations as far apart as Baghdad and Provence; they reflect a wide range of philosophical orientations and perspectives; and they contain numerous insights about every aspect of Job. The remaining challenge is to formulate general conclusions about this material. This purpose will be greatly aided by the scheme of three interfaces around which this study has been organized. These interfaces are reviewed to draw general conclusions about these readings of Job as a collective. The implications of these conclusions for the field of medieval Jewish philosophy as a whole are also discussed.

Concerns the issue of immortality in two medieval Jewish philosophers: Maimonides and Gersonides. It is argued that both of these highly rationalistic philosophers are amenable to a reading according to which they deny the personal immortality of the soul. The rewards of virtue, identified as intellectual knowledge, lie in this life, not in some after life.

This chapter is devoted to the single problem of the creation of the world. According to Gersonides, Maimonides' theory of creation was deficient because of its hasty scepticism about the decidability of the question, but it was also erroneous in its uncritical adoption of the ex nihilo account of creation and in foisting the theory on Scripture. It provides Gersonides' argument against Maimonides that the creation of the world is provable, and the world was not created ex nihilo. This chapter also details an indirect criticism of Maimonides' cosmological scepticism by means of a direct refutation of Aristotle's cosmological dogmatism. Gersonides considered the creation of the world to be one of the central dogmas of Judaism, especially because it highlights the volitional and providential character of divine activity.

This chapter discusses the question, “Is Anything Impossible for the Lord?” It points out that the very first sentence of the Bible seems to give a definitive answer to the question: God created the entire universe, which absolutely counts as greater proof of His omnipotence. The Bible records many divine acts that explicitly testify to His overwhelming power, especially to alter the natural behaviour of things. Every miracle is proof of divine power, as well as of divine providence. The very occurrence of miracles could have been used by Gersonides as evidence of individual providence. The chapter describes two particular miraculous events that formulate the general principle of divine omnipotence: Sarah's birth to a child in Genesis 18:14 and Job's confession of his ignorance in the face of God's power in Job 42:2.

This chapter explains how prophets play an important role in Gersonides' theories of providence and miracles. As the recipient of the highest level of individual providence, the prophet receives information that is not only of benefit to himself but is also providential for the community to which he is sent. And as a crucial factor in the occurrence of miracles, the prophet appears to have a special role in those moments in human history when the normal routine seems to be annulled and something strange but providential occurs. This chapter describes how prophecy was an essential element in biblical religion and the very medium through which the Bible itself is revealed. It explains how prophetic utterances and messages in the Bible are not just forecasts, but prophets transmit an entire legal and religious system. This chapter mentions that in Maimonides' theological creed prophecy is listed as one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith.

This chapter explores why a divine revelation, in particular the Torah, was given if destiny is defined in terms of intellectual perfection and involves knowledge of the sciences and metaphysics. It talks about Gersonides' whole enterprise of showing the philosophical provability of the fundamental truths of metaphysics, which pertains to true happiness and reveals his complete confidence in the powers of reason. The chapter describes one of the earliest Jewish theologians to confront the issue on the contrast or conflict between human reason and divine revelation head-on, Sa'adiah Gaon. Sa'adiah Gaon was quite confident in his own rational powers and throughout his book engaged in philosophical argument to show that Judaism was a religion wholly compatible with human reason, albeit revealed through prophecy. It points out how divine revelation, according to Sa'adiah Gaon, provides supplementary information that aids in applying the general teachings of the Torah to the specific circumstances of everyday life.

This chapter explores the medieval debate about the nature of creation. It compares and contrasts arguments of three major schools. The first school suggests that the universe had no start, and that God’s work of creation is, accordingly, continuous and with no beginning. The second two schools suggest that the creation had a beginning but differ as to whether God created the universe out of nothing, or out of some primordial matter. Bringing these arguments into conversation with contemporary philosophy and cosmology, this chapter finds in favor of an original creation from nothing.

This chapter makes a radical claim: theism entails a robust form of idealism. The chapter then goes on to use that claim to make sense of a central tradition of Jewish mysticism—tzimtzum, or divine contraction. The tradition in question is an idealistic solution to a problem concerning belief in creation; a problem that, this chapter ends with claiming, Gersonides may have been sensitive to.

Chapter 7 presents a more careful examination of the natural order, focusing upon both the natural world that comprises the “sublunar” sphere (viz., the space between the earth and the moon) and the heavenly bodies that comprise the “superlunar” (above the moon). In the sublunary world, it is necessary to focus upon those features of the natural order, including in particular time, place, and void. The chapter discusses the rival cosmologies of Aristotle and Ptolemy; the Greek and secular antecedents; astrology in the Jewish world; and the astrological determinism with reference to Ibn Ezra, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Finally, serious note must be taken of those events that, contravening the natural order, fall into the general category of miraculous. How, in a cosmology ruled by law and order, can miracles be explained?